Jacqueline Jones LaMon Elected President

JACQUELINE JONES LAMON ELECTED PRESIDENT OF CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION

Brooklyn, NY (05 October 2015)—Cave Canem Foundation, North America’s premier home for black poetry, is pleased to announce that Jacqueline Jones LaMon has been elected to serve as the organization’s next president. She succeeds Cave Canem co‐founder Toi Derricotte, who held the office from February 1997 to late September 2015. Derricotte will continue to serve on the board as a director. Reflecting on the work ahead, LaMon says, “In our next phase of development, Cave Canem’s board, staff and stakeholders will build on the solid groundwork established by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, continuing to advance the organization as the premier center and home for African American poetries.” She sees her two‐year term as president as an opportunity to “strengthen Cave Canem’s infrastructure and ensure a healthy foundation for decades to come—emphasizing our creative excellence, shaping our legacy of mentorship, and promoting entrepreneurial leadership.” A Cave Canem fellow, LaMon has served on the organization’s board of directors since 2009 and chaired the Development Committee, 2013 to 2015. She is the author of two collections of poems, Last Seen, a Felix Pollak Poetry Prize selection, and Gravity, U.S.A., recipient of the Quercus Review Press Poetry Series Book Award. Her novel, In the Arms of One Who Loves Me, was published by Ballantine Books. An Associate Professor at Adelphi University, where she teaches in the multi‐genre MFA program, LaMon was a finalist for the 2012 NAACP Image Award (Outstanding Literature, Poetry) and has received fellowships from the The Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction, the Yaddo Foundation, the Fine Arts Work Center and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others. She earned her BA from Mount Holyoke College, JD from UCLA School of Law, and MFA in Creative Writing, Poetry, from Indiana University Bloomington. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. Called ʺ t h e major watering hole and air pocket for black poetryʺ by 2011 National Book Award winner and faculty member Nikky Finney, the organization’s programs include an annual week‐long retreat, first‐and second‐book prizes with prestigious presses, Legacy Conversations with distinguished black poets and scholars, Poets on Craft talks, a lecture series, community‐based writing workshops, publications and national readings. Such pre‐eminent poets as Elizabeth Alexander, Terrance Hayes, Natasha Trethewey, Chris Abani, Harryette Mullen, Yusef Komunyakaa and Claudia Rankine number among the organization’s faculty and judges. To date, Cave Canem has published Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade (University of Michigan Press, 2006); The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (University of Georgia Press, 2007); and two anthologies from Willow Books, Cave Canem Anthology XII: Poems 2008‐2009 (2012) and Cave Canem Anthology XIII: Poems 2010-2011 (2015).

“There is nothing like being seen by the eyes of those who, without explanation, understand why you do what you do when you do it. There is nothing like not having to decode or apologize for the sweet pleasure of a word or phrase that will not let loose of your ear.”

Nikky Finney, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South

2015-11-26T15:29:19+00:00

Nikky Finney, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South

“There is nothing like being seen by the eyes of those who, without explanation, understand why you do what you do when you do it. There is nothing like not having to decode or apologize for the sweet pleasure of a word or phrase that will not let loose of your ear.”

“Cave Canem is a kind of heaven, yes. It’s not just that we are speaking to each other there as black people; it’s that we’ve lived the lives of black poets. We’ve faced the fears, the hurts, and we’re still poets. To undertake and stay with this task, usually so unrewarded, creates a kind of strength and compassion that is enormous.”

Toi Derricotte

2015-11-26T15:31:58+00:00

Toi Derricotte

“Cave Canem is a kind of heaven, yes. It’s not just that we are speaking to each other there as black people; it’s that we’ve lived the lives of black poets. We’ve faced the fears, the hurts, and we’re still poets. To undertake and stay with this task, usually so unrewarded, creates a kind of strength and compassion that is enormous.”

https://cavecanempoets.org/testimonials/toi-derricotte/

“Back in 2000 when I was first accepted at Cave Canem, I was working part-time at a bookstore making less than $7 an hour. The scholarship I received was the only reason I was able to attend, and it changed my writing life by introducing me to mentors like Toi Derricotte and Nikky Finney and eventually connecting me to the editor who published my first book. Please consider changing another poet's life by supporting Cave Canem financially.”

Traci Dant, Fellow

2015-11-26T15:44:16+00:00

Traci Dant, Fellow

“Back in 2000 when I was first accepted at Cave Canem, I was working part-time at a bookstore making less than $7 an hour. The scholarship I received was the only reason I was able to attend, and it changed my writing life by introducing me to mentors like Toi Derricotte and Nikky Finney and eventually connecting me to the editor who published my first book. Please consider changing another poet's life by supporting Cave Canem financially.”

https://cavecanempoets.org/testimonials/284/

“While I can't even begin to measure Cave Canem's value to me personally (community, friendship, rigor), we all can see the radical movement it’s occasioned in American poetry. To be plain: it's changed—and is changing—the face(s) of our literary landscape. How often in our lives will we be able to participate in something as important and beautiful? It's a joy to support this."

Ross Gay, Fellow

2015-11-26T15:44:48+00:00

Ross Gay, Fellow

“While I can't even begin to measure Cave Canem's value to me personally (community, friendship, rigor), we all can see the radical movement it’s occasioned in American poetry. To be plain: it's changed—and is changing—the face(s) of our literary landscape. How often in our lives will we be able to participate in something as important and beautiful? It's a joy to support this."

https://cavecanempoets.org/testimonials/285/

“By the time I leave a CC Retreat, I can feel that the internal imperative to Write! has shifted from an obsessive, isolating quality to one of deep communal rites and responsibilities – what healthier transition exists for an artist?

Geffrey Davis

2015-11-26T15:51:22+00:00

Geffrey Davis

“By the time I leave a CC Retreat, I can feel that the internal imperative to Write! has shifted from an obsessive, isolating quality to one of deep communal rites and responsibilities – what healthier transition exists for an artist?